Putin beats apathy to win another term

Russia gave Vladimir Putin a second presidential term last night in an election marred by allegations of fraud, media bias, and attempts to bribe or coerce the electorate into voting.

With more than half of the vote counted, he had 69.8% and the Communist challenger Nikolai Kharitonov 14.7%. No other candidate had scored more than 5%, and 3.7% had voted "against everybody".

At more than 64% the turnout was well above the 50% threshold required to make the vote valid - the only potential hurdle Mr Putin faced.

Mr Putin thanked voters for turning out, and promised to strengthen the economy and civil society. "I promise you, that for the next four years, I will work in the same mode," he said. "All the democratic achievements will be guaranteed."

Apathy in recent days had prompted a huge poster campaign urging the electorate to "protect the constitution". Cheap groceries were on offer at a Moscow polling station.

In Chechnya martial law gave a turnout of 92% in one region. Some poorer parts of Russia recorded up to 87%.

Mr Putin avoided campaigning or releasing a manifesto, and even television debates with his poorly funded opponents.

He had spent the past fortnight reshuffling his government, preparing for the second term he considered a foregone conclusion. The only surprise in last night's results was Mr Kharitonov's showing, exposing Russia's enduring fondness for its Communist past.

Observers and Mr Putin's opponents say there have been substantial irregularities.

The liberal candidate Irina Khakamada, who was getting less than 5%, said: "We have received 106 calls about violations of electoral law. There were pro-Putin posters at some of the voting stations. People were not offered voting papers at home if they said they would not vote Putin."

US officials were unimpressed by the vote, the secretary of state, Colin Powell, telling the Fox News network: "You've got to let candidates have all access to the media that the president has.

"It's not entirely clear to me why they go out of their way to keep opposition candidates from fully participating in the electoral process.

"It's not good but I don't think it signals the total demise of democracy of Russia," he added.

Voice, a grass roots monitoring organisation, said that in the regions soldiers had been ordered to report when and where they and their families had voted.

Universities threatened to throw non-voting students out of their residences, and some voters were offered £2 if they put an already marked ballot in the voting box, and, outside, gave their blank one to the briber, it said.

A source close to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has been observing the election, said its report today would be highly critical of the Kremlin's use of state media to deny Mr Putin's relatively unpopular opponents airtime.

The source added that there was concern about the methods used to "encourage" people to vote.

The report will also address the lack of proper opponents to Mr Putin.

Perhaps the most creative sign of getting the vote out was at a Moscow polling station, where an impromptu market selling bargain fruit, vegetables, ice cream and beauty products was set up.

Sasha, who worked at the fruit and veg stall, said: "The prices here are lower than you will find out on the street." Another woman leant over her beauty products stall to admit: "We're only here for today."

Inside, the shortage of voters had created a sombre mood by mid-afternoon. Throughout Moscow the turnout was only 35% by 2pm, despite the brilliant spring sunshine.

Velina, 19, a student, was steps away from the polling booth when she admitted: "I still haven't decided who to vote for."

A man walking quickly out of the station joked: "I voted for the president."

"I will vote for Putin, I think," said Valeri, 40, a taxi driver who lost his job in December. "The [terrorist] explosions continue, and human life is still only worth a kopek, but everyone else is a nobody."